The Barista and the Thief
by teachmetodance
Summary: AU Tangled fic. Rapunzel was just an ordinary young woman, working at her mothers cafe to earn some money, until a young man suddenly bursts into her life. She's abruptly thrust into a world full of things and people she never would've imagined. Join her as she discovers who she is and where this thief will take her in life.


**I do not own Tangled or anything related thereto. **

"Rapunzel! I'm not getting any younger down here!"

In a small room, if one could even call it that, on the outskirts of a small town north of L.A., a blonde mass began to move. This blonde mass was in fact hair. Super long, super thick, super blonde, hair. A young girl, about 20 years old, picked her head-which was attached to all of that hair-up from her pillow, blinking sleepily at her bedroom door. When she processed what it was that had woken her up, her head fell back on her pillow, her green eyes falling shut. That was her mothers voice; she would recognize it anywhere.

Almost as though her mother knew exactly what she was thinking, her shout of "RAPUNZEL!" shook the door.

She sighed. She knew she would have to get up eventually. Better do it now, before she would have to face her mother's lightly veiled insults and sarcasm. She turned her face into the pillow and groaned. Then she pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes.

She couldn't tell you why she was still living in the tiny room above her mother's café. She had finished home school when she was 15. When you aren't allowed out of your room except to help in the kitchen, you have a lot of free time. She still had a lot of free time, most of which she spent painting or dreaming of far off places.

She always thought of leaving. She knew there were better places out there, and that she couldn't stay in the attic room of a restaurant forever. She knew that, but her mother didn't. Her mother had never let her leave. The closest she ever got was sitting on the roof late at night, looking at the stars. She also knew that just because her mother forbade her from leaving didn't mean she really couldn't. She just…never had.

She was currently trying to make a little money, so if she ever did decide to leave-which she would, eventually- she had the money to support herself. Which was why her mother was screaming her name at 4am. She did a double take. Yup, her clock definitely said 4 o'clock in the morning. Great.

With one more glance at her soft, warm bed, she stood up and began the process of starting her day. In 2 days, she would be 21 years old. Maybe by then she will have worked up the courage to tell her mother she was leaving. Maybe.

* * *

In an abandoned apartment complex in the middle of the city, a young man sat in a darkened room, apparently waiting on something. He was sitting at a dusty table, tapping his fingers. He suddenly sighed and stood up, beginning to pace. This had been going on for about two hours. He was not happy.

He looked to be about 22 or 23 years old, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was handsome, roguishly so, and looked out of place in that part of the city. He glanced at his watch yet again-they were almost 3 hours late- and looked around, seemingly uncomfortable. He was thinking about all the other things he could be doing-that brunette he had bought a drink for at the bar, with her tight slinky dress, came to mind- when the door was shoved open.

He jumped out of his seat-he didn't realize he had sat down again- and held up his arm to block his eyes. The light from the hall, even if it was hardly enough to see by, was brighter than the candle he had lit in the room. Two large figures stood in the doorway.

"Rider, we were worried you weren't gonna show." The front figure said this, walking into the room. The other followed closely, closing the door behind him. They were in fact actual people, not just moving mountains of flesh. They were obviously in their late thirties to early forties. They had short-cropped red hair and very thick eyebrows. They were probably at least 6ft 6, if not taller, and over 450lbs. They both had to duck and turn sideways to get in the door. Also, they were twins, thus doubly terrifying.

"Of course I made it. I've been here for-" another quick glance at his watch "-4 hours! We were supposed to meet at 2am. It's now 6am, and I still have no idea what you guys want me to do. There are plenty of other ways I could be spending my time, you know." The young man crossed his arm and let at a puff of breath.

"Well, well, well," said one of the mountains of menace, the one with the eye-patch, "looks like Flynn Rider here actually has a back bone. What do you think brother, is he the right man for the job?" He looked back at the other mountain, who was leaning casually against the wall by the door. They grinned at each other and looked back at Rider, who was starting to regret saying anything, not to mention showing up at all.

"I think we just saw that you can indeed handle yourself. We've heard great things about you Rider, and we think you would be the perfect person for the job. So sit down, and we'll talk things over."

Flynn, never one to let his reputation be put in jeopardy, sat back at the dingy little table, in the dingy little room, and said "I'm listening," as if it were he in charge and not the bulky masses before him.

Flynn himself had never worked with the Stabbington brothers before. But he had heard of them. They were ruthless and merciless. They were also dumb, and all of their ideas came from higher up. They were always brilliant ideas, but they were only just that: ideas. Their boss would give them the idea to steal something or kill someone or start a war, and they would find someone to come up with a plan.

Now, Flynn was excellent at almost all nefarious deeds, so he had no idea what they needed him for. He was simply excited at the idea of a job. It had been a very long time since he had had work, and he was running out of girls in the area to sleep with and steal from.

"Well, here's the job: steal the crown of Corona." The younger brother let this news sink in.

Flynn blinked. And blinked again.

"Are you CRAZY!" he shouted as he jumped out of his dingy little chair.

Now, the story behind this crown will explain why Flynn reacted as such. The crown of Corona was actually a real crown. The richest family in L.A. was the Corona family. The head of the family, Luca, was actually the second son of King Conte of Corona. He came to L.A. with his fathers blessing, and a good chunk of the family fortune, to make a name for himself. Little did he know, however, that the heiress to a neighboring kingdom followed him. Caterina and Luca had grown up together, and were betrothed. However, they didn't know that, and thought Caterina would be married to another, more impressive, man. Thus, Luca left, not able to bear the heartache. Caterina's mother, realizing what happened, followed Caterina and interrupted their wedding ceremony, insisting they marry in Corona or Ambra.

They did marry in Corona, thus connecting the kingdoms forever. But they moved back to Los Angeles, where Luca built up his coffee company (the Corona Blend is now one of the most popular on the west coast) they also had a beautiful little girl, who they named Rapunzel, after Caterina's grandmother who had convinced Caterina to stay with Luca in L.A. But Rapunzel was stolen when she was a baby, and no one had seen her since.

The crown had been Caterina's and it's said it would only fit on the head of the next queen of Ambra. It was heavily guarded in the safe at the Corona mansion. No one knew exactly how well guarded either.

The crown would be worth several large fortunes. Enough for Flynn to retire on. He wanted to get out of the thievery business, maybe set up his own bakery in a small town, marry some small town girl, have small town kids. Sons who play on the football team, daughters who are brilliant and beautiful, just like their mother.

Was it worth it? He didn't know. But he was gunna die soon if he didn't get out of this business anyway. At least he could say he died trying.

He hadn't realized he had reverted back to pacing as he contemplated his choices. He looked up at the two red-headed men, already developing a plan.

"Alright, I'll do it."

**I'm really excited about this one, guys. I know, this first chapter is short. But please let me know if y'all like this.**


End file.
